The Perfect Charade
by Miyavilurver
Summary: While traveling with Lloyd & co., Zelos is forced to secretly go through his own journey of regeneration in order to save his sister from the hands of the Pope. Will Lloyd notice in time to stop him? Mostly bromance. Eventual slash.
1. Ｐrologue

So, I've been working on this project for a while, and while it's not done yet, I have written quite a bit of it already and decided to post it. I apologize in advance if it pace is a little slow, but I promise it will pick up in chapter six, where the real deviations from the plot will finally take place. Of course, the next couple of chapters hold their own surprises! ^^

The prologue is short, but hey it's the prologue. The rest of the chapters will be way longer. And speaking of which, if possible I will update weekly (reviews encourage this ;D). Anyway, I hope you will all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. (:

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

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><p>"Your Majesty." The Pope stepped forward, his face dark and eyes narrowed. "The Sylvaranti should not be allowed to live. We must dispose of them before they become a threat to us! To let them roam around freely in our world will only serve to hinder our kingdom!" he insisted agitatedly, his fingers tightening anxiously around his staff.<p>

The King frowned at his brother's words but saw reason in them. Although he felt uneasy about killing the young girl and her companions in cold blood, perhaps that would be for the best… He frowned in consideration, glancing at the Tethe'allan Chosen, who looked far too carefree about this discussion.

"Zelos," the King addressed him. "What do you make of this?"

Zelos looked surprised he had been asked for his opinion, but responded truthfully. "It would be simpler if we just got rid of them," he agreed easily with a nod, before shrugging. "Their intentions appear to be honest, though. Killing her or saving her, both options lead to Sylvarant's destruction in the end, right? Personally, I wouldn't want a cute girl's blood on my hands." Zelos flashed the court a flirtatious grin to emphasize his point.

The Pope shot the redhead seething glare before turning to address his half-brother again. "As long as the Sylvarant Chosen lives, our world teeters on the brink of destruction!" he protested once more, and would have continued his rant had the King not halted him with a wave of his hand.

The King looked pensive as he considered his options. He had no real desire to kill the blonde girl but her continued existence could prove to doom his kingdom. However, Zelos was right. The Sylvaranti looked honest enough about their intentions…

"…I will allow them passage throughout Tethe'alla." The King decided after a moment of silence, ignoring how his brother hissed quietly in anger at his words. "Chosen One." The King addressed the redhead somberly. "It is for your own benefit that the Sylvarant Chosen does not complete her Journey of Regeneration, and so it will be your task to keep an eye on them."

Zelos sighed quietly, having expected something along these lines to happen. He bowed outlandishly to his King. "As you wish," he said simply before straightening up and turning to leave.

"There is one more thing." The King stopped him, nodding grimly to the Pope, whose expression swiftly changed from irritated to smug. Zelos tensed as he noted the tell-tale smirk on the Pope's face.

"And what would that be?" Zelos asked smoothly, his face blank before them both, not wanting to show his apprehension.

"This." The Pope's smirk widened as he held out his hand. On top of his palm was Zelos' Cruxis Crystal.

Zelos' eyes widened. "Why do you have that?" Zelos murmured quietly, angrily.

The Pope ignored his question and narrowed his eyes. "This is just a precaution. After all, there is still a chance that the Sylvaranti are lying." the Pope taunted the Chosen, wanting to rub in the fact that this could have been avoided has Zelos agreed with him earlier.

Zelos snatched his Cruxis Crystal from him angrily. "Where is my sister?" Zelos asked again, lowly and threateningly, his hand tightening on his Cruxis Crystal.

"She is fine, Zelos." the King assured him.

"And she will be fine as long as you release the seals, Chosen One." the Pope whispered lowly, so only Zelos could hear him.

This time when Zelos bowed, it was through gritted teeth that he mumbled, "As you wish."

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><p><em>If you have time to favourite a fic, you have time to review it. <em>


	2. a Ｍountain of complications

So here is chapter one! (: Quick question first though: What day of the week would you guys prefer me to update? I'm thinking either Sunday/Monday so you can start with it at the beginning of the week, or on Fridays so you can end your week with it. What do you think? ^^

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

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><p><em>Is that… what's going to happen to me?<em> Zelos wondered to himself with a small frown, watching Colette out of the corner of his eyes. She looked like such a zombie. It was… morbid, not to mention more than a little scary. Zelos inwardly shivered, but tried to calm himself. If everything went right, he would never have to endure that terrible transformation, he assured himself.

He just hoped the Renegades pulled through.

"Zelos, watch out!" a voice cried out, and Zelos snapped out of his thoughts as Lloyd pushed him to the side and away from the monster's path.

"Idiot!" the redhead heard Sheena cry out. "Pay attention to your surroundings!" she growled, reprimanding him.

And that was really all that needed to be said. Immediately, Zelos' mask was back on.

"Whoops!" he laughed loudly, irritatingly, and dodged the next monster. He pulled out his weapon and joined in the fight, already coming up with excuses for his absentmindedness.

It was over as quickly as it began. "What was that about man? Are you okay?" Lloyd asked him as he sheathed his swords, walking up to his side as they continued to climb up the Fooji Mountains.

"Heh, I'm fine." Zelos told him, winking. "My mind was just wandering a bit… you know?" he grinned, signaling towards the female members of the party with a nod of his head whilst wiggling his eyebrows.

Lloyd blinked uncomprehendingly, "Um, I guess..?" he replied unsurely, his tone sounding as naive as he was.

Zelos rolled his eyes at this. Was this kid for real? He snorted, running a hand through his long hair. "Don't worry about it kid," he chuckled before picking up his pace a bit. He could see the top of the cliff coming to view.

"Ugh, I hate this mountain." Genis complained, panting a bit. He sneaked a glance at how Presea was doing (she looked as composed as ever) and immediately crossed his arms over his chest, pretending he wasn't as exhausted as he felt.

"How exactly are you planning on carrying these?" Lloyd asked Zelos for about the tenth time.

"Oh, I'll show ya. Come over here for a sec." Zelos grinned, beckoning them over. There was a bit of guilt settling on his stomach as he watched them walk right into the Renegade's trap, but he ignored it. After all, Seles' life was more important than these people. Why should he care?

"So?" Lloyd began to ask again, looking at him inquisitively. But it was then that the force field sprang up, imprisoning everyone except Colette. Genis stumbled into Lloyd, who in turned stumbled into Zelos. "What the hell?" they all cried out, wondering what was going on.

"You walked right into my trap, fools." Yuan smirked as he stepped out of the shadows.

_So far, so good_, thought Zelos to himself, as he helped Lloyd straighten up before leaning away from him.

Lloyd groaned as soon as he saw Yuan's face. "Not you again!" he complained, running an irritated hand through his hair.

"Get away from Colette!" Genis protested from Lloyd's side.

But Yuan took no notice of the blonde Chosen, instead he narrowed his eyes almost predatorily as he approached the force field. "This time you're mine, Lloyd." he declared quietly but triumphantly, making the brown-haired boy blanch and back away from the wall that separated the two.

Zelos raised a brow at that. Weren't they after Colette? The redhead frowned, beginning to worry that the Renegades weren't going to follow through with their deal. …it's not as if Zelos actually wanted her to die or anything—as a fellow Chosen, he understood her plight more than anyone—but, it would have been better if she had never come to this world.

Yuan glanced at him for a split second, noticing his expression before turning to address his underlings. "Retrieve the Rheairds." he ordered, putting Zelos' fears at ease.

The group hissed and protested in earnest as the Renegades took off with the machines. Zelos, however, couldn't help but to breathe a little easier, knowing that without them the group had no reason to go messing around Volt's lair. He could avoid the seal, at least for a little while longer.

"Lord Yuan?" another voice, a woman's, joined into the fray. Zelos' eyes widened. What the hell was Pronyma doing here?

"What brings you to this place, my lord?" she asked Yuan, a cruel smirk gracing her lips as she glanced in their direction. Her eyes appeared to twinkle in amusement at their predicament. Zelos' fingers tightened at his side, twitching nervously.

"That woman…haven't we seen her before?" Raine murmured in askance to the party.

Lloyd frowned, tightening his grip on his swords as Sheena and Genis shifted uneasily.

"I should ask you the same, Pronyma!" Yuan snapped at the Desian. "The role of you Desians is to wreak havoc upon the declining world!" He sounded irritated at Pronyma's unexpected appearance. But after a moment he sighed and shook his head. "I assume you've come to retrieve the Chosen?" he asked rhetorically, nodding in the direction of the blonde.

"That is correct, my lord," Pronyma bowed. "I've come here on Lord Yggdrasill's orders." She smiled at him thinly before approaching Colette.

"Colette, run away!" Lloyd cried out, hitting at the force field in a futile effort. Pronyma's mocking laugh chilled Zelos to the core. This was _so_ not going as planned. If they took Colette then Tethe'alla was screwed! "Get away from her!" Zelos joined in the protest, his face troubled.

Colette didn't move an inch, looking as dead and eerie as ever with her blank face and red eyes. She continued to float idly, even as Pronyma approached her. "Your words cannot reach a Chosen who has lost her soul." Pronyma sneered at them cattily, snatching the blonde Chosen tightly by her arm. Her mocking face froze then, her eyes narrowing as she noticed the Key Crest Lloyd had made for her back in Sybak. "Why is there such a crude Key Crest upon the Cruxis Crystal?" She grimaced as if in disgust. "…How pathetic. I shall remove this ugly thing at once."

_Crapcrapcrap_, Zelos panicked, wondering if magic would work against this force field. He tightened his fists at his sides and heard Lloyd curse as Pronyma's fingers closed in on Colette's Key Crest.

But then, something miraculous happened.

"N-no!" the blonde Chosen protested, shoving Pronyma away before putting her hands protectively over her Key Crest.

There was a moment of frozen silence as everyone stared at Colette.

"S-she spoke!" Genis exclaimed, his eyes widening.

"Impossible!" Zelos heard Yuan mutter to himself.

"Colette! You're back to normal?" Lloyd grinned, looking a little triumphant.

"How could this happen?" Pronyma snarled, furious as she lunged towards the blonde Chosen.

Colette flinched away from her reach, stumbling back. Zelos watched, almost impressed at their luck, as the blonde fell on top of the machine that had created the force field, subsequently breaking it. "…Oh no, I broke it!" she cried out, comically enough.

Pronyma growled but backed away, feeling intimidated now that everyone was free and eager to fight.

Zelos grinned as he sauntered forward, reaching to pull the blonde girl up to her feet. He was glad to be out of that prison. "All right! Good job, my little Colette! I think I'm falling in love~" he teased her before unsheathing his dagger and moving to stand beside Lloyd, who was already poised for battle.

"Some things never change." he heard the Professor laugh as she too followed his lead. "Seriously," Sheena laughed as well. "That brought up some painful memories." she grinned. Zelos raised a curious brow, wondering what they were talking about.

Yuan rolled his eyes at all of this, looking more impatient than irritated at these sudden turn of events. "Enough of this. Lloyd, you are coming with me!" he scowled, taking out his blade before quickly lunging at him.

His blade met sword with a clang, but it was not Lloyd's.

"…K-Kratos!"

A tense hush engulfed the area as the crimson-haired swordsman knocked Yuan's blade back. Everyone stared at Kratos wearily, except Zelos who couldn't help but to roll his eyes. "Was there a party I didn't get an invitation for?" he joked, but his humor went unnoticed.

Kratos ignored everyone as he addressed the blue-haired angel. "Leave, Yuan. Lord Yggdrasill has summoned you."

Yuan put his blade down, looking pale. "…What are you doing here?" he asked, looking both wary and frustrated at his presence.

Kratos ignored him, turning to face the Desian Leader. "Pronyma, forget about the Chosen for now. It's the toxicosis." he explained, and at these words both Yuan's and her eyes widened.

"….I see." Yuan's lips thinned as he glanced at the Sylvarant Chosen before unfurling his wings and taking off. Before leaving though he turned and stared straight into Lloyd's eyes. "Our battle will have to wait." he smirked, although it was obviously strained.

And with that both Pronyma and Yuan were gone.

There was only one left to deal with.

Kratos turned to the group and leveled them with glare. "…Why have you come all the way here to Tethe'alla?" he asked them coldly, never loosening the grip on his sword.

Lloyd, who had been startled quiet ever since Kratos' arrival, swiftly snapped into a growl. "We're here to save Colette!" he snarled at the seraphim, his body tensing and his hands tightening their grips on his swords. He stood protectively in front of the party and glared at Kratos with fury and an undercurrent of hurt. Zelos' brows shot up wonderingly at this display.

"What good will saving the Chosen do?" Kratos merely snorted at Lloyd's words, invoking another growl from him. Zelos too bit his lip, annoyed at these words.

"The worlds will continue vying for each other's mana. The seals from the regeneration ritual merely serve to reverse their flow." Kratos continued coldly. "Will you forsake Sylvarant for her sake?" Kratos asked them, not for the first time, but didn't wait for an answer.

"H-hey, wait!" Lloyd protested as Kratos took off without another word. They watched him take off to who-knew-where, feeling helpless and lost. "Damn him!" Lloyd growled in frustration.

Sheena frowned worriedly at his departure, brooding over Kratos' words. "Has Tethe'alla… already begun to decline?" she wondered aloud, feeling slightly guilty.

At these words, the Sylvaranti all bowed their heads, feeling guilty as well. Zelos didn't let his own worry show though, and instead sighed loudly, stretching his arms. "Well, this was a waste of time," he declared with a carefree grin, shrugging. "But at least some good came out of it!" he chirped, approaching his fellow Chosen, who looked as downcast as the rest of the group. "Come on now, my cute little angel. After all this trouble to bring your soul back, you should at least grace your saviors with your cute smile~" Zelos tilted Colette's chin with his fingers, and winked at her.

Colette tilted her head curiously at him, her big blue eyes peering at him. "Let's see, you're… Zelos, right?" she smiled.

"You remembered my name!" Zelos beamed. "We Chosen have to stick together, you know?" Zelos grinned, putting his arm around her shoulders and pressing his cheek to her own.

"Oof!" he groaned a second later, having been pushed away by the white-haired little brat.

"Colette! Are you okay now? Is everything back to normal?" Genis asked her in concern, completely ignoring the red-haired Chosen who was currently glaring daggers at his back.

"Yup!" Colette giggled. "I think I'm okay now. Thanks, everyone! And I'm sorry I made all of you worry so much." she apologized with a shy smile. But not a moment later, her expression shifted curiously into startled surprise.

"Colette, are you okay?" Lloyd immediately asked her, looking concerned. Was she suffering some kind of aftereffect from the transformation? Or worse, what if the Key Crest was malfunctioning?

But Colette merely shook her head, dismissing their worries with another smile. "It's just… I think I'm hungry for the first time in a long while!" she laughed, sounding so happy at her own words.

Everyone couldn't help but to smile at that, feeling happiness and relief that Colette had finally returned to normal. The group all seemed to gain back their enthusiasm with the return of Colette's soul. All but Zelos, who despite his cheerful grin, could only worry.

Loss of appetite, loss of physical sense, loss of voice…. and lastly a loss of self.

Zelos inwardly grimaced. He couldn't allow that to happen to himself. He wouldn't.

"What should we do now?" Raine spoke up then, as always the voice of reason. "The Renegades, the Desians, and Cruxis… it looks like we've made a big enemy. Now that Colette has regained her soul there's no immediate need to return to Sylvarant, but…" she trailed off, sounding unsure.

They all look pensive at her words for a moment.

"We can't allow the worlds to continue like this!" Lloyd suddenly declared with a frown on his lips. "We have to search for a way to save both worlds from this twisted system, in order to prevent any more Chosen like Colette!"

Zelos blinked startled at these words and he couldn't help but to stare at Lloyd with a bit of admiration and respect. It was a noble but impossible dream in the end though…

"I agree with Lloyd." Colette spoke up, her voice small but determined. "I promised Sheena too." she added, making the Mizuho ninja blush slightly.

"Colette…"

"But what about Presea?" Genis protested then. "We can't keep dragging her around like this!" he exclaimed.

Most of the party was sheepishly surprised by that statement. They had forgotten about the quiet pink-haired girl.

"…I… want to go home." said girl spoke up then, her voice as dull as ever.

"Hmm, the Tethe'alla Bridge is probably still closed off. " Sheena bit her lip, wondering how they could get across the ocean now. "Oh! I have contacts in Meltokio, let's ask them for help!" she suggested.

The group perked up at these news, but it was only for a second. "We're wanted traitors now though… Can we even get into Meltokio?" Genis wondered worriedly.

Zelos spoke up then, a confident smirk on his lips. "Just leave that to me, I know Meltokio like the back of my hand!" He grinned.

The party looked relieved at his words. Lloyd smiled at him gratefully. "All right, we're counting on you, Zelos!"

"Well, of course you can, Bud!" Zelos winked, and turned to confidently lead the party back to the city. Inwardly though, he was trying to ignore the worrying knot that was beginning to tighten at the base of his stomach.

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><p>"…"<p>

Zelos stared at the ceiling of his room with a dark frown marring his lips. Today had certainly not gone as planned. The Sylvaranti were still here, he had been declared as a traitor by the Pope, and his sister… she was still kidnapped.

Zelos shut his eyes tightly, angry at the Pope, angry at himself. Why did Seles have to become involved in all of this? It wasn't fair…

_Nothing ever is, _Zelos thought bitterly, letting out a frustrated sigh as got out of his bed. He just couldn't fall asleep, not when he was feeling like this.

Quietly, in an almost practiced manner, Zelos sneaked out of his room and down the stairs, making sure not to make a noise. He wouldn't want to wake anyone up at this hour.

Soon enough, he was standing in front of his mother's portrait which seemed to loom over him eerily. Coldly.

"Heh, even in death you still manage to make me feel like this, don't you?" Zelos murmured to himself, clenching his fists, but he did not move from that spot, nor look away. It was comforting in a way, this feeling of self-loathing.

He stood like that for what felt like ages. All he could think of was of how much a failure he was. Why was it that he couldn't do anything right?

Why couldn't he at least protect Seles from all of this?

_If only I hadn't been born, she could have lived a better life. Her mother and our father would still be alive. _

_But I destroyed that happiness. And even now, I'm still destroying what little she has left. _

"Dammit…" Zelos bit his lip in frustration. If only the Renegades had nabbed Colette in time. Why the hell had Pronyma shown up there anyway? Zelos hadn't told her a single thing about all of this. And still wasn't planning to. As long as his sister was missing, there was little to talk about with Cruxis.

_What am I going to do? _Zelos wondered morosely. Would he really have to turn into an angel to save Seles? After seeing the state Colette had been in before… the very idea sickened him.

_But what do I have left to live for anyway? My life is just a joke, isn't it, mother?_ Zelos asked the portrait silently, giving her a pained smile.

"…Zelos?" a voice suddenly called out into the darkness, disrupting Zelos' brooding.

The redhead flinched in the direction of the voice and reached for his dagger to no avail. He had carelessly left it in his room in his brooding.

The figure stepped forward and under the pale light of the moon Zelos was able to recognize who it was.

"Lloyd!" Zelos blinked in surprise and relaxed. "What are you doing up this late?" he asked him, immediately wiping his dark thoughts off his face, although that wasn't too hard; he had been honestly surprised and that had helped to clear his mind.

Lloyd turned sheepish at his question. "I got thirsty a while ago, but couldn't find the kitchen." he explained with a small grin. "By the time I did, I was too awake to go back to sleep." He scratched the back of his head embarrassedly.

Zelos couldn't help but to grin at Lloyd's words, imagining the scene in his head. "Heh, sorry about that. I guess I should have given you guys more of a tour, huh?"

Lloyd grinned back at him. "This is one of the biggest houses I've ever been in! Well, the Palace was even bigger, but I guess that makes sense, huh?" Lloyd laughed too and Zelos couldn't help but to smile.

A comfortable silence took over the two, with only the sound of Lloyd's footsteps approaching. Zelos was surprised his mood had lifted so fast.

"Is this your mother?" Lloyd asked once he was close enough, gazing up at the portrait of the beautiful woman.

And there went his mood, Zelos sighed mentally. But it's not like Lloyd could have known…

"Yeah," Zelos responded with a light shrug. "She died when I was young though. Didn't have much of a chance to get to know her, you know?" Zelos laughed a bit, ignoring the painful clench of his stomach.

Lloyd was quiet for a minute, suddenly looking sad. "… yeah, I know." he replied, and his gaze turned longingly as he looked down at his Exphere. "My mom died when I was young too." Lloyd confessed.

"Oh," Zelos blinked, surprised and even a little touched that the dual-swordsman had confided this information to him.

"I don't really remember mine either." Lloyd continued speaking, not really staring at anything now. "But you're lucky, Zelos. I wish I could've at least known what my mom looked like." he smiled, rubbing the back of his neck as he turned to look at him.

Zelos turned his head away before Lloyd could catch his troubled expression. "She… sure was something." Zelos managed to reply, trying not to show how uncomfortable he felt about this subject.

A couple more seconds elapsed in silence. To Zelos it felt like an eternity. "We should head to bed." he suggested gingerly after a while more, and almost sighed in relief when he saw Lloyd nod in agreement.

The two of them headed up the stairs then, down the halls and into their rooms. Lloyd's was pretty near his own, so they walked together in silence. When they turned to part, Lloyd stopped him, grabbing onto Zelos' arm.

"Hey," Lloyd spoke softly, not wanting to wake up the others. He looked embarrassed. "I just wanted to thank you for everything you're doing for us. I really appreciate it." he told him, before scratching at his cheek and looking away. "Sorry for causing so much trouble." he apologized, referring to the earlier incident with the Pope.

Zelos felt genuinelysurprised by Lloyd's words. His eyes softened and he shook his head lightly. "Don't worry about it. Whatever will be, will be." He shrugged, giving him an honest smile. All in all, the day hadn't been so bad.

Assuming the conversation was over, Zelos continued to walk to his room. As he was about to turn in, Lloyd's voice stopped him one last time.

"Oh yeah, I never asked you. How come you were up this late?"

"Heh," Zelos smirked a bit as he opened the door to his room. "Maybe I'll tell you another time," he chuckled and winked at Lloyd. "Good night~" and with that he closed his door.

"…Night." Lloyd called back, feeling a bit puzzled. And then he too went to bed.

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><p><em>Please review (:<em>


	3. nighttime Ｉnterrogations

And here is the next chapter! As usual the pace is a little slow but I'm doing my best to skip over most of the unnecessary scenes of the game while planting the seeds of my own plot, little by little... (: Next chapter will be one of the few Lloyd POV chapters I will have (so far it's the only one, and I'm really not sure if there will be another one, we'll see) In any case, I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. (:

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

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><p>Morning came fast the next day, and with it came good news.<p>

"Just as they promised, the Research Lab finished altering the EC's this morning!" Sheena announced as she made her way into the dining room. Everyone was sitting down there eating breakfast, Lloyd and Colette looking particularly focused on their food.

Zelos, who was lazily leaning his head on his hand, couldn't help but to grimace at the news. "I can't believe we're going to be traveling on those things." he complained, his voice tethering into a whine.

Sheena frowned in agreement. "It can't be helped." She sighed. "It's the best we can do for now. It would be impossible for us to get a ship, and with the Bridge out…" She shrugged.

"Sis, are you okay?" Genis asked in concern, watching as his sister's complexion slowly began to pale.

"I'm fine, Genis…" Raine assured him, although her color did not return. She put down her utensils, having lost her appetite.

Sheena rubbed the back of her head sheepishly at that. "Sorry, Raine." she apologized, having forgotten about the Professor's fear of water.

Zelos raised an eyebrow at the exchange before sliding closer to the half-elf Professor with suave smirk. "Don't worry, my Ultra Cool Gorgeous Beauty! The great Zelos Wilder will protect you!" he promised her, his voice teasing.

Her half-hearted glare did nothing but amuse Zelos, but he laid off the subject as soon he saw her reach for her staff. Luckily for him, Lloyd finally spoke up then.

"Man, the food was great!" he exclaimed with a satisfied grin. "I could get used to this, you know." he joked half-seriously.

"I am glad to hear that, Sir Bud." Sebastian spoke up from behind him, almost startling Lloyd out of his seat. He hadn't noticed the butler's presence. Zelos snickered quietly behind his hand although Lloyd was able to hear him anyway and shot him a glare. He got out of his seat and proceeded to glare at the butler as well, protesting. "I told you my name isn't Bud! It's Lloyd!" he insisted.

Genis rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't we get going already?" he crossed his arms over his chest, looking impatient. He also snuck a few glances in Presea's direction, wondering if she was alright. Without the Rheairds and without a clue of how to save the two worlds, the only thing they could do now is follow through their promise to Kate and help Presea return to her normal self.

"The brat is right. There's no time to lose and whatnot." Zelos agreed and stood up from his chair.

"All right, well, let's head to the shore and make our way back to Sybak then." Sheena smiled.

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><p>Sybak had brought them little answers, but at least they had something to go on. Tomorrow… they had to go see a dwarf named Altessa, whom had also been part of the team that had experimented on Presea, and was the only one who could cure her.<p>

"What's the Gaoracchia forest like?" Genis asked Sheena curiously as he finished drying the plates they had used to eat. It was after a general consensus that the party decided to camp for the night, settling down somewhat nearby the aforementioned forest. After all, they wouldn't want to go into it at this time of night. And with their wanted status, there's no way they could've stayed at the inn.

"Hmm," Sheena leaned back on the camp's trees, stretching her arms and taking out the kinks in her muscles. "Well, it's kinda of scary to tell you the truth." Sheena admitted. "Dark, easy to get lost in..."

"What's so scary about that?" Zelos leered at her through half-lidded eyes before dodging the projectile that was aimed at him. "Hey, watch the hair!" he complained.

"I bet there's nothing to be scared of." Lloyd shot Genis an easygoing smile. "It doesn't look much different than the Iselia Forest."

"Hmm, I guess." Genis frowned unsurely.

"It used to be just a normal forest, once upon a time." Zelos interjected with a devious grin. "But then," he whispered, sitting up from his spot and beckoning the two closer before continuing. "One day, a thief hid a stolen treasure deep in the forest."

Sheena, seeing where this was going, rolled her eyes and muttered an "Oh, brother." to herself, but let him continue, feeling slightly mischievous herself.

"It was a jewel worth several billion Gald, so naturally a lot of people came after it." Zelos paused then, leaning in and lowering his voice so they strained to hear it. "Every single one of them ended up dying, slaughtered by the thief." he whispered morbidly, amused as their eyes widened in shock. He smiled thinly then, his face darkening eerily over the campfire. "Over time, the forest became stained with blood. It transformed into a cursed place, haunted by the lingering resentment of the people killed here."

Lloyd and Genis blanched at Zelos' words, shivering. "You're not serious, are you?" Lloyd asked, sounding nervous now. He glanced wearily in the direction of the forest, feeling much less enthusiastic to visit it now.

"N-no way." Genis laughed weakly. "He's just trying to scare us… right?"

Zelos smirked then, widely and evilly. "Rumors say that even now, when travelers enter the forest… the thief's ghost comes to kill them." he warned them, and did his best not to laugh his ass off at the freaked out expressions of the two.

"Who dares disturb my forest?" Sheena whispered from behind them, having approached the two quietly as Zelos narrated his tale.

The two boys yelped, jumping up to their feet and swiveling around, scared out of their minds.

Sheena began snickering like crazy, tears coming out of her eyes. "Sheena!" The boys glared at her sulkily as they tried to calm down their racing hearts.

Zelos burst out laughing as well. "Oh man, you should've seen your faces!" he cackled. "Sheesh, not even three-year-olds believe stories like that these days." He bit his lip, trying to stop himself from grinning so much.

They turned to look at him murderously as well.

"Alright, children, that's enough." Raine finally spoke up then, closing the book she had been reading. "It's late, and we all need our rest." She lectured them, hands on her hips, although she too had an amused smile quirking at her lips.

After a few more disgruntled glares they all settled down into their sleeping bags, ignoring the snickers coming from the Tethe'allan pair.

It took a while before everything quieted down, but finally, there was silence.

_I wonder what kind of dwarf Altessa is…_ Lloyd thought tiredly, yawning as he wondered how his dad was doing.

Sleep was quick to come.

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><p>That night, under the floors of Sybak, a redheaded swordsman walked quietly but briskly to the academy's basement.<p>

His footsteps echoed throughout the hidden tunnels that led to the building, but Zelos wasn't scared of being caught. His eyes narrowed in determination as he reached the doorway of the basement's lab. He pulled the hatch open, watching as the entrance opened smoothly.

Inside, most of the half-elves were asleep. About a third of them however, continued on about their business, looking tired and haggard but determined.

He found his target within a second.

"Kate!" Zelos called out to her softly, surprising her. The blonde half-elf frowned disconcertingly, and Zelos could already see the gears in her head turning. Zelos narrowed his eyes in annoyance, beckoning her to come closer. "Come on!" he insisted and tilted his head towards the door.

Finally, after a second more, Kate approached him, wearily.

"What brings you back here again, Chosen One?" she asked him stiffly, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

Zelos rubbed the back of this head, giving a weary glance to the inside of the basement. "Not so loud, okay?" he frowned, moving away from the entrance's view. "I just wanted to ask you something is all." he told her.

Kate looked as uncomfortable he felt. She said nothing and waited for him to speak up again.

Zelos sighed, a troubled sound, but got straight to the point. "I want to know who it was that ordered you to conduct that experiment." he asked, referring to Presea's situation.

Kate's lips thinned as she pressed them together tightly. She said nothing, only stared at the ground.

Zelos titled her chin up, piercing her eyes with his own, searching for the answer.

"Was it the Pope?" he murmured quietly, his resounding voice softly caressing the dungeon's walls.

Kate pulled her face away from his grip, refusing to look at him.

Zelos snorted at her response. "Heh, I thought as much. That pathetic old man just couldn't stand not having a Cruxis Crystal of his own, huh?" he chuckled lowly, darkly.

He watched the half-elf's body tense at his words, her eyes flashing. "Don't call him that!" she protested, at last speaking. She bit her lip immediately after though, already regretting it.

Zelos' brow rose slowly and delicately. His mouth morphed into an interested smirk. "Oh…?" he voiced slowly, curiously. "That's certainly unusual. A half-elf, siding with the Pope?" he asked lightly, inquiringly.

"I… I'm not… siding with him." Kate denied, looked downcast.

"…I did wonder." Zelos nodded to himself, finally assured. "You're his daughter, aren't you?" he asked, rather bluntly.

The way her face tightened told him everything he needed to know. Zelos shut his eyes in irritation, knowing he had hit a dead end.

There was only one more thing he could do now, a risky gamble.

Zelos swallowed nervously, looking grim. He hoped word of this never got around to the Pope.

"My sister, Seles…" Zelos stared straight into Kate's eyes once again, searching for recognition but finding none. Instead he saw her shame and her fear. Above all, he saw her love. _Fuck, _Zelos thought then, knowing this wasn't going to work. "She's gone missing." he told her instead, not exactly lying.

Kate looked at him with a pitying expression, her lips sad and her hands angry. She clenched them tightly at her sides, looking frustrated. As if she knew the truth behind his words.

"I… I'm sorry." she said then, her voice soft and shamed as she looked down.

Zelos felt cold then, not trusting her word. He grabbed her arm tightly, feeling his patience begin to snap. "Do you really not know anything?" he hissed at her, narrowing his eyes.

Kate tried to pull away, shaking her head. "I told you, I don't!" Kate protested, wincing as his grip tightened.

The movement jarred something in Zelos' consciousness, making him immediately let go. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to calm his temper. It took a while until he was finally able to apologize. "…Sorry." Zelos sighed, sounding frustrated. "Listen, just, forget about all of this. I was never here." he instructed her, a firm frown set on his lips.

Kate nodded in agreement, looking pale and shaken after the exchange. Zelos watched her hurry back into the lab with a sense of disappointment.

He hadn't managed to accomplish a single thing by doing this. He scowled, feeling useless. Helpless.

Was there really no other choice? Zelos wondered, the thought continuing to pester him the whole walk back to the camp.

Once there, he snuck quietly, carefully, into the clearing. He felt tired all of the sudden. Not in the mood to continue his watch.

With a small frown, he wondered who he should wake up to take over for him, glancing around the camp area.

…One of the sleeping bags was empty.

Zelos' face froze then. Panicked. He heard a thump hit the ground a second later and turned around slowly. He found Lloyd frowning at him, looking right at him with an expression Zelos was currently too tired to decipher.

"Lloyd…" Zelos pulled up a nervous smile. "You're awake…" he grinned uncomfortably, not liking the serious expression that lingered on the dual-swordsman's face.

"You were gone for a while." Lloyd spoke then, looking at him warily. "Where'd you go?" he asked him, crossing his arms over his chest.

Zelos laughed nervously, wondering why he kept getting caught off guard by this guy. "Ah, well, you see…" Zelos began, when a disgruntled groan from the left interrupted their conversation. "Shutuuuup." Sheena groaned in her sleep, blinking her tired eyes open just enough to glare at them.

The moment had been enough. In a flash, Zelos' best philanderer look was in his eyes, topped off with his most satisfying, sleazy-looking smirk.

"Sheena, darlin'," Zelos purred, turning to her so as to not face Lloyd. "I'd be more than happy to help you back to sleep." he teased her, knowing it would wake her up enough to create a small scene.

His plan worked almost too perfectly. Sheena rose to his bait alright, but one look at his disheveled appearance—suddenly, he was glad he had remembered to mess up his clothes on his way back to the camp—made her grimace in disgust.

"Ugh, I can't believe you, Zelos." she groaned, still half asleep. "You're despicable." She glared at him, coldly, as she struggled to stay awake.

Zelos shrugged carelessly, which made Lloyd frown in wonder. Why Sheena was getting so mad all of the sudden? Did she know where Zelos had gone?

Sheena turned to address the pondering teen. "Just ignore him, Lloyd." she scowled, trying not to slur her words as her tired body tried to catch up with her brain. "Do yourself a favor and don't even bother with this pervert." She tried to sound stern, but her ending yawn ruined the effect. She couldn't manage to stay awake for any longer after that.

When Zelos turned back to face Lloyd any remaining trace of guilt and anger was gone from his face. Instead he smirked at the brown-haired swordsman, his flirtatious look never once leaving in his eyes. "Heh, sorry about ditching guard duty and all." he apologized, not sounding very sorry at all. He approached the brown-haired teen slowly, a whole different aura around him now. "I had some, matters to take care of." he purred into Lloyd's ears, his hot breath caressing the younger teen's skin.

Lloyd shivered at the contact, taking a step away from Zelos' sudden proximity. He gave him an odd, uncomfortable look, to which Zelos smirked suavely before winking. "I'm tired. Take over for me, will you, hunny?" Zelos asked the bewildered teen, sauntering over to his sleeping bag before the other could even begin to protest.

"Night~!" he called back at him, leaving Lloyd and his rapidly growing confusion alone in the dark, his face slowly turning a pale pink.

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><p><em>If you have time to favourite a fic, you have time to review it. (:<em>


	4. a Ｄifferent perspective

And here is the Lloyd chapter I promised! Writing him was fun ^^ Although at the time it was very difficult, lol. When I RP with my partner a Zelloyd story I'm usually Lloyd, but ever since starting this fic I have had this huuuge Lloyd block. Thankfully after much struggle this was born xD I was pretty satisfied with it.

But enough ramblings! Hope you like this chapter. And no worries, Zelos will be back in the next one (: It's one of my favs, hehe. I'm looking forward to posting it already!

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

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><p>Lloyd sighed quietly to himself, trying not to drag his feet over the coarse ground of the forest. They were supposed to be doing this quietly, but with a group their size… what was it eight now? It was kind of hard to be inconspicuous.<p>

They were heading to the hidden village of Mizuho, Sheena's home. Lloyd was actually pretty excited about it, as Sheena's fighting abilities had always fascinated him.

He would've been more excited, but something had been nagging him ever since the Papal Knights had shown up earlier.

The Tethe'allan Chosen, Zelos... something about him really intrigued Lloyd. At first, he had thought the redhead was just an obnoxiously carefree guy, but the more Zelos traveled with them, the more Lloyd wondered about him.

Although Zelos was almost always sporting a grin on his face and making light of almost every situation, something about him seemed… off. It seemed pretty obvious to Lloyd that there was more to him than what the redhead showed. Despite his flirtatious and lighthearted attitude, Zelos sometimes had a worried look on his face, but never said anything about it.

It reminded him very much of how Colette liked to act. Lloyd wondered if it was just a Chosen thing.

Nobody else seemed to make much of a big deal about it however. Sheena was always getting irritated at him, and the Professor usually ignored him. Genis never got along with him and Presea wasn't in a state to make judgments at the moment. It seemed that the only one that didn't seem to mind him was Colette… and Lloyd himself.

Lloyd thought Zelos was pretty fun to be around with actually... once you got past his endless sarcasm and constant flirting. He always seemed to lighten up everyone's mood, even if he didn't always have the best timing. Admittedly, Lloyd hadn't initially been paying that much attention to their new companion due to Colette's condition, but now that she was back to normal Lloyd couldn't help but to notice the redheaded Chosen.

At first Lloyd began to watch him out of wariness, still feeling the stinging pain of Kratos' betrayal. But now, he was just plain curious. Not to mention bothered.

"_So the Pope's finally decided I'm too much trouble to let live, huh? Can't say I'm too surprised. I've known that since I was a kid." _

Lloyd had been surprised at that unflinching, almost bitter, confession. Zelos' sneering tone towards the knights had brought Lloyd more questions than answers. And he had a feeling Zelos wasn't going to be keen on giving him any answers.

Lloyd sighed. Sometimes he hated mysteries. Trying to figure them out always gave him a headache.

Upon hearing the sigh, Genis perked up from beside him. "Are you getting bored already, Lloyd? We're almost at the village, you know." Genis grinned at him teasingly.

Lloyd huffed at that. "I'm not getting bored! It's just… tiring. This forest is so huge and dark… it sucks." Lloyd complained, and shot Genis a petulant glare as he heard the half-elf snicker at him.

Raine sighed patiently before she began reprimanding them. "Genis, stop distracting Lloyd. Lloyd, point the Sorcerer's ring forward! And see if you can spot another place to charge it up again. It's beginning to die out again." she instructed him firmly. There was only so much she could light up with her staff once the ring died out… this place was a nightmare. She hoped the exit _was_ near.

"Yes, Professor." Lloyd rolled his eyes discreetly before moving to point the ring forward again. He caught Genis sticking out his tongue at him out of the corner of his eye and grinned.

Zelos snorted at their antics.

"If you guys have time to play around, then you won't mind if I start quizzing you, right?" Rained threatened them with a sharp smile that had them both flinching.

"W-we'll be quiet! Promise, Professor!" They (mostly Lloyd) began to assure her, only to be cut off midway.

"…Movement speed reduction resulting from conversation in transit." Presea commented offhandedly, her voice toneless and her gaze serious.

"You heard the lady." Zelos teased them from the back of the group. He was especially amused at how the white-haired brat had visibly deflated at Presea's words. And then immediately bristled up at Zelos' input.

"Shh, quiet!" Sheena suddenly hushed them, noticing Colette's body abruptly tense up.

Everyone froze on their spots then, their hands reaching for their weapons as they too strained their ears, trying to listen to what Colette was hearing.

"They're bringing more soldiers into the forest," Colette murmured softly, frowning as she shuffled their prisoner's unconscious body in her arms.

"We need to hurry." Sheena frowned as well, before picking up her pace. The rest hurried after her heels.

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><p>"This place is soooo cool!" Lloyd grinned widely as he bounced on his heels. They were supposed to be waiting outside the Chief's house as Sheena went in to explain the situation, but Lloyd just couldn't keep still, so he had decided to explore.<p>

It was a small village, much like Iselia, so maybe that's why Lloyd liked it so much.

(That and the ninjas. Lloyd wondered if he could learn to be a ninja too… or at least learn how to do that teleportation trick Sheena liked to do sometimes.)

"Lloyd Irving! Get back here!" Raine hissed at him from the distance, to which Lloyd responded with an innocent grin and a wave. "They're going to take a while, right? I'll be back in a minute or two!" he called back to her before ducking safely out of sight.

It was nice to be out of the forest. Lloyd had been dead wrong yesterday in thinking that it would be like the Iselia Forest. It was nothing like that _at all_. Not only was it way more creepy and dark, but Zelos' story of the place had made the whole trip entirely unbearable.

Lloyd was not looking forward to returning to it. But sadly, they would have to.

Ugh.

"Lloyd!"

Lloyd turned back to see Genis running after him and smiled, waiting for him to catch up.

"Hey, I think there's an inn around here. Think we can grab a quick bite before the Professor comes after us?" Lloyd grinned at the other.

Genis rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Are you nuts? Raine is furious enough as it is! She sent me after you to bring you back before you caused trouble around here."

"What could I possibly do in five minutes?" Lloyd protested indignantly, an almost pout crossing his lips.

Genis gave Lloyd a _look _beforeshaking his head hopelessly. "Wouldn't you rather wait for Sheena to show us around later?" Genis advised, before frowning as he glanced back to where the rest of the group was. "We really should go back to Raine. She would have come to get you herself but she wanted to stay by the Chief's house just in case Sheena needed her. Not to mention, someone needed to keep an eye on _that_ guy."

Lloyd frowned. He had wanted to at least check out the shops before heading back, but Genis had a point. "His name was… Regal, right?"

Genis scowled affirmatively. "We should have just left him in the forest." he muttered with distaste. "I don't trust him." He huffed.

"Well, he did try to attack us twice." Lloyd nodded before frowning thoughtfully. "I wonder what he wanted with Presea though. I don't know... He kind of doesn't seem all that bad but…" _Neither did Kratos,_ was left unsaid. Lloyd's face twisted into a grimace.

Lloyd tried hard not to dwell on those thoughts, but it was difficult. The betrayal still felt too raw, too deep, and as much as he had tried to bury away those feelings ever since _it_ had happened, Lloyd couldn't help but to keep on thinking back on it.

Although Lloyd knew that Kratos had been lying to everyone since the beginning, to Lloyd it felt a whole more personal. Out of everyone in the group, Lloyd had thought that he was the one that had gotten to know the mercenary best. They had spent so much time together, had trained together and… Lloyd had looked up to him.

But in the end, everything had just been an act. A lie. And knowing that made the betrayal feel a whole lot worse than anything Lloyd had ever experienced before.

"Lloyd?" Genis' worried voice called out to him, making Lloyd notice he had been spacing out. The swordsman tried to muster up a reassuring grin to flash at his friend but Genis' unhappy and knowing expression told Lloyd that his efforts had been futile.

"Wow, what happened to _you_ guys? You've only been gone for a few minutes and you've come back looking as if someone's died." Zelos remarked as soon as they were in sight. The redhead was leaning up against one of the walls of the Chief's house, and cocked a questioning eyebrow in Lloyd's direction.

Genis shot a glare towards the redhead but for once refused to rise to the bait and remained quiet. He quickly moved to stand by his sister and Presea, turning his animosity in the direction of their prisoner in lieu of Zelos.

Lloyd just shrugged noncommittally, ducked his head down upon noticing the Professor frowning at him, and moved to sit next to Colette, who was resting at the bridge by water, a couple of feet away from the rest of the party.

"You okay, Lloyd?" Colette asked him softly once he joined her, to which Lloyd responded with a steady smile. "I'm fine." he assured her, his smile widening as he noticed Colette playing with the water. It was nice to see her act like a normal once again…

"Doesn't this place remind you of Iselia?" Lloyd commented to her after a little while. He looked down at the water with a bit of nostalgia, recalling the days where he, Genis, and Colette had played around by the lake near Iselia.

"A bit." Colette smiled, remembering those days as well.

"I'm kind of relieved that Tethe'alla has some places like this. Everything here is so… different." Lloyd smiled a little sheepishly at his admission as he absentmindedly drew on the ground. This world was so foreign and overwhelming compared to Sylvarant. Not only that, it still felt so weird that they were in another _world._

Colette nodded in agreement, pushing a strand of hair back behind her ear. "When we went back to Meltokio after I regained my senses, I was so surprised. It was kind of scary, but at the same time beautiful…" Colette's smile dimmed down after a second. "It's nothing like home though." She glanced guiltily towards Lloyd before looking down at her lap. "Lloyd, I'm sorry." she sighed and began fidgeting with her thumbs.

Lloyd gave her a confused glance at the sudden apology. "Huh? What for?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"For… for everything." Colette's lips twisted into a frown. "If it wasn't for me, you guys wouldn't have had to come to this world. And then, I put everyone in so much danger, and now we can't even go home anymore and we're stuck here, and you must miss your dad so much—" Colette began to ramble miserably, with each word tensing. It was obvious that she had been thinking about this for a while now. But before she could continue on, Lloyd cut her off with an exasperated sigh.

"You dork." Lloyd nudged the blonde with his shoulder. "Have you been worrying about this all this time?" he laughed slightly, shaking his head as Colette motioned to speak again. "No wait, hear me out." he told her, smiling a bit in her direction.

"You don't have to apologize about all of this, you know. It's not _your_ fault that the Renegades decided to betray us. It's not _your _fault that Cruxis ended up being some kind of psycho organization bent on controlling the world. Err, worlds." Lloyd corrected sheepishly before continuing.

"But yeah, coming here wasn't so bad, you know? Sure, everything is different and maybe even a little scary, but if we had the choice to do it all over again, none of us would hesitate to do this again. You're our friend, Colette." Lloyd smiled at her, his eyes reflecting the sincerity behind his words.

"And… I think maybe we were meant to do this, you know?" Lloyd continued a little more seriously then. His face turned thoughtful as he leaned back on his hands and looked up at the sky. "None us even knew that there was a whole other world out there. And now that we know the truth, doesn't it make you want to change this stupid Chosen system?" Lloyd frowned. "I want to live in a world where everyone can have a normal life. One where no one has to become a sacrifice, or is discriminated against just because of their birth." he told her. "I meant what I said back at the Fooji Mountains. I feel like we need to do this. It just wouldn't feel right if we went back home without doing anything about all of this." Lloyd suddenly leaned forward again and rubbed at the back of his neck self-consciously. "At least that's what I think." He laughed a bit, trying to ignore the way his cheeks pinked slightly. He hadn't exactly meant to say all of that so suddenly, but it had felt _right._

Colette stayed quiet for a moment, which made Lloyd glance sideways at her a bit nervously. The motion allowed him to catch a glimpse of Zelos as well, whom for some reason was looking in their direction with a thoughtful frown on his face. Lloyd wondered if he had overheard what he had said, or if he was just thinking about something else.

"Do you think we really could?" Colette asked softly then, snapping Lloyd's gaze back at her.

Lloyd shot his friend a sure grin. "Definitely." he told her confidently. He didn't know how yet, but something inside of him told him that it was definitely possible. "We'll find a way somehow." he assured her, and Colette smiled back at him.

"I hope so." she murmured brightly, before turning to face the water once more.

They didn't say anything else after that. They all just waited until Sheena finally exited out of the house.

"Hey, sorry for the long wait. The Vice-Chief is ready to see you all." she announced as her eyes did a quick headcount.

The group perked up at these news, having begun to get bored with just waiting around. Raine raised a concern though. "We should probably have someone keep an eye on our prisoner." she suggested to the ninja, shooting their cuffed prisoner a distrustful glance.

Sheena nodded quickly. "Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on him. There's no way he could escape this village alive anyway," she added noticeably sharper, clearly addressing their blue-haired prisoner.

"…I like to think that I'm smart enough not to start trouble when I don't understand the situation." Regal frowned but made no move to stand up from the tree he was leaning against.

Sheena raised a doubtful brow at these words before turning to the rest of the others. "Shall we?" She moved to head back inside the house, and everyone except Regal moved to follow her.

However when Zelos shifted from the wall he had been leaning against to do so there was a loud click, and then suddenly, the wall flipped from behind him and sent him sprawling into the floor of the house with a painful thud. "What the hell?" he cried out startled.

Lloyd, who had caught the whole thing on his way into the house, burst into a fit of laughter.

"Zelos is clumsy." Presea commented as she sidestepped the redheaded Chosen's body.

Genis snickered unkindly, whilst Raine raised an amused eyebrow.

As for Sheena, she grinned wildly and made no move to help up the Chosen who had landed by her feet. "Oh, this is priceless." She snickered.

Zelos shot her a dark, petulant glare as he moved to sit up. "You guys suck." Zelos complained as he moved to rub the back of his now-pained head.

"You have to admit that was funny." Sheena teased the other mercilessly, giddy at having the upper hand for once.

Zelos shot her a wounded glare, and would have matched it up with a petulant whine had Colette not stepped in.

"Oh, Zelos! Are you okay?" she asked him with a slightly concerned frowned. She moved to give him a helping hand up, which Zelos took gratefully. The redhead's expression swiftly switched from disgruntled to self-satisfied.

"I'll be alright, my sweet little angel. Thank you for asking. It's nice to know that at least _some_ of us don't like to laugh at other's misery." he commented pointedly to most of the party, before giving Colette a grateful smile.

"Well, you said that Chosen have to stick together, right?" Colette beamed back at him, which would have gained her a hug from Zelos had Sheena not intervened in time.

"Hands off, buster!" Sheena warned him huffily as she pulled Colette out of the other's reach. "And don't encourage him, Colette. That idiot will get the wrong idea." She shook her head, reprimanding her slightly before dragging her deeper into the house and away from the redhead.

"Hey!" Zelos protested with a scowl before following after them.

Not a moment later, Lloyd could hear the Tethe'alla Chosen getting slapped in the distance. Lloyd shook his head hopelessly, having expected that. Zelos was just too predictable.

His eyes then turned in the direction of the flipping wall, walking towards it with curiosity and excitement in his every step. "How does this _work_?" Lloyd wondered aloud as he began prodding at the wall, trying to make it flip again.

"Lloyd! Hurry up!" The Professor called back at him with a knowing voice. It seemed like Zelos wasn't the only one that was predictable.

"Coming!" Lloyd gave the wall a last longing glance before following after everyone. After the meeting he was going to have to ask Sheena how that worked. It looked so cool!

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><p><em>Please review! (:<em>


	5. unexpected Ｓurprises

Almost forgot to upload this! Since it's the end of the semester, there's so many projects to do ): Luckily I'm always a chapter ahead of posting, so I'm optimistic that the pace of this story will continue to be weekly. Plus, it's almost Christmas break too, so I hope to be able to get some time to write some more chapters. But in any case, here you go for this week's ch! It's one of my favs, hehe. (:

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><p><strong>Chapter Four:<strong>

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><p><em>What the hell are they <em>_**thinking**__?_ Zelos inwardly frowned, feeling slightly frustrated about what had happened in their meeting with Tiga.

The meeting had at first gone more or less as expected. The Vice-Chief had mainly wanted to personally assess if Sheena had made a good judgment call in allowing the Sylvarant Chosen to live, since the repercussions of her actions had landed Mizuho in trouble not only with the Royal Family but also with the Church of Martel.

The answer had been surprisingly yes. Why? Well, that's what threw Zelos off.

When Tiga had questioned the group over their current goals, Zelos hadn't been surprised by what Lloyd had said (he had heard the speech twice before already), but by the Vice-Chief's reaction to it. The whole idea of separating the two worlds was too incredulous to even consider, but Tiga seemed to see something in Lloyd that made him believe that the venue was at least worth looking into.

Personally, Zelos thought Lloyd was being too naïve about the whole thing. A world without discrimination? A world where this stupid Chosen system could finally be abolished? Zelos had hoped for too long for something like that to happen. He had long since discarded those ridiculous idealistic illusions.

It appeared that he was the only one though.

Of course, that didn't mean he was going to go and publicly speak up his opinions on the matter. He certainly didn't care if the group wanted to run around Tethe'alla like headless chickens. As long as they stayed away from the Seals…

They might even stumble into some information about his sister.

Already, Zelos was grateful that they had stumbled upon Mizuho. Knowing well of their non-disclosure contracts, Zelos had been able to discreetly hire one of Mizuho's ninjas to gather information on the Pope's affairs in hope to get some kind of lead on Seles. It would take time though. And time was something Zelos didn't have to spare.

_At least Cruxis has kept quiet for a while,_ Zelos thought with a dark frown as he silently followed the party out of Mizuho. They were off to Ozette, finally. It seemed like the Papal Knights hadn't spared more than a day of search in the area.

_Pronyma is probably wondering what the hell I've been up to, _Zelos thought with a bit of worry, recalling their last meeting. He hadn't expected her to show up at the Fooji Mountains, and the knowing smirk she had shot him that day had made him considerably uneasy. He had expected some sort of confrontation that very night, and was surprised when she hadn't made an appearance. He hoped things continued to stay that way until he himself knew where the hell he stood with Cruxis. Now that Colette was "useless" to them, the only people who were interested in this group were the Renegades…right?

...Right.

"Ugh." Zelos grumbled irritably under his breath. Why did everything have to get so complicated?

"Something wrong, Zelos?" Lloyd's voice piped up quietly from the redhead's left, just a couple of feet ahead. Zelos blinked somewhat startled. He had been purposely lagging behind from the group, having been both assigned to keep guard at the rear and putting up his usual pretense of eyeing the girls from this "strategic" position. He hadn't expected Lloyd of all people to have been trailing behind with him. Usually, he was the one in the lead.

A quick glance to the front showed Colette beaming the Sorcerer's ring ahead instead of the dual-swordsman. Another cursory glance reassured Zelos that the rest of the party was too distracted to be paying any attention to him.

Aside from Lloyd of course. Which was…new.

"Oh, um," Zelos struggled for words for a moment, something else that was new. He didn't like being caught off guard. He quickly brought up a small smile to flash at the other. "It's nothing bud." He rolled his eyes companionably, "Just wising we could get out of this forest soon. It's a bit of a bore, isn't it?"

"Ugh, agreed," Lloyd nodded with a bit of a sigh as he slowed his pace a bit more, until they were walking side to side. He looked as bored with this trip as Zelos felt. But his eyes seem to peer at him curiously, as if the brunette knew that was not what had been on Zelos' mind.

Zelos paid that no mind however and swiftly turned his own gaze to the front, shrugging his shoulders with ease as he continued to address the other. "Well, it's not like Ozette will be any better. It's such a shame our cute little rosebud has to live all the way out in the boondocks." Zelos wrinkled his nose at the thought.

"What's so bad about living out here?" Lloyd asked with a frown of his own. "Well, not _here_ obviously." He shuddered pointedly, because who would seriously live out here in the middle of this forest?

Zelos gave Lloyd a pitying glance. "Don't tell me, did you guys actually live somewhere like this back in your world?"

Lloyd shot the redhead a warning glare. "So what?" he snapped defensively, crossing his arms over his chest.

Zelos raised his hands up in placating manner. "Nothing, nothing!" He rolled his eyes at the other's reaction. "No need to get your knickers in a twist." he added, and tried to stifle a smirk.

Still, Zelos couldn't help but to give Lloyd another pitying glance, which the brunette dutifully ignored.

"Anyway," Lloyd changed the subject rather pointedly, "I've been meaning to ask you, so, what do you think of the plan?"

"The plan?"

"You know," Lloyd seemed kind of hesitant to ask, and didn't look in the direction of the redhead. "The whole, separating the worlds thing." He pinked slightly.

"Ah," Zelos answered noncommittally as he wondered what to say to that.

During the meeting he had kept mostly quiet, only speaking up once to remind Tiga that choosing "Lloyd's side" wasn't exactly a winning option. Zelos wondered if Lloyd had taken offense to that and that's why he was asking.

"Well, it's not much of a plan yet, is it?" Zelos joked evasively, and hoped the other would drop the matter.

Instead, Lloyd frowned in agreement, staring down at his boots in contemplation. "Yeah.. you're right." he admitted quietly, looking surprisingly worried. He seemed deep in thought for a second, and Zelos couldn't fathom what the other could be thinking about. But soon the brunette's expression returned to its usual determined vigor. "We'll find something though. We _have_ to." Lloyd promised fiercely, looking up at Zelos as if he was promising _him_.

In a way, Zelos thought for some reason feeling a little stunned, he was.

"Y-yeah…" Zelos faltered for a second, entranced by Lloyd's fierce stare. "I… guess we will." he agreed without thinking, and then wondered for a second why he wanted so badly to believe him.

But reality crashed down in Zelos' mind rather quickly. He tore his wide, blue eyes away from Lloyd's and back towards the ground, trying not to look as conflicted as he felt. Cruxis was way too big an enemy to oppose, he had to remind himself. Even the Renegades were having a hard time, and they had a small army as well as the latest of Cruxis' technology at their disposal. What could a group of eight people possibly do against all that?

_Absolutely nothing, _Zelos reminded himself once more, whilst doing his best to ignore the odd feeling he had experienced moments before, as if something that had been weighted him down heavily had just …disappeared.

Zelos felt unnerved, and more than a little confused.

He tried to ease the mood back into his usual carefree one, beginning to strain on a sleazy smile.

"Hey, Lloyd!" Genis interrupted then, saving Zelos' from having to make the effort to come up with some sort of inane comment.

Lloyd look up to the front but didn't speed up his pace. "Yeah?" he answered, his voice loud enough to carry over.

The half-elf brat looked irritated at this response and shot a not-so-hidden glare in the direction of the redhead. Zelos stifled an amused smirk from breaking out.

"Come up here, I think we're almost there!" Genis called back, looking petulant that his best friend was keeping _Zelos_ company.

Lloyd's eyes lit up at this announcement. "Finally!" he cried out with a wide grin, turning to share it with the redhead, who grinned back.

"Lloyd!" Genis insisted at the front, which made Zelos roll his eyes at the brat's antics. He nudged at Lloyd to go forward however. "Well, go on. No need to keep the kid waiting." he advised, and tried not to sound too relieved at this turn of events.

Lloyd shook his head almost fondly, his smile wide and his eyes still shining with excitement over the news. "Well, I guess I'll talk to you later then?" He grinned at him in parting but didn't wait for a response as he quickly began to pick up his pace.

Zelos watched him go, taking care not to let his expression reveal how confused the last few minutes had left him. "Yeah…" he ended up murmuring lowly, absentmindedly and a moment too late. Zelos wondered just how in the world Lloyd Irving kept managing to baffle him. For some reason, the image of the brunette's fierce determined eyes kept popping up in his head. He didn't even know _why._

From the front, Genis' furtive voice began to trail off into the wind.

"So what were you talking about…?"

* * *

><p>The walk to the inn was a quiet one. Everyone, even Zelos, felt shocked and speechless at what had happened only a few moments ago.<p>

Upon arriving at Ozette, Presea had immediately run off. They had chased after her of course, but hadn't expected to end up seeing that creepy half-elf from Meltokio there as well, talking all-too-familiarly with their pink-haired comrade.

And as if that hadn't been unnerving enough… the corpse they had found inside the house was.

"Is she… going to be alright?" Genis asked his sister mutely as they entered the inn, looking worried and subdued as he trailed behind her.

Raine frowned, looking worried as well about leaving Presea all alone out here. But she tried to smile encouragingly at her brother. "She'll be safe here. Don't worry." she murmured to him, and ran a comforting hand down his hair. Genis tried his best to look annoyed at the motherly action, but the protest didn't really reach his eyes. He sighed loudly instead, before moving to head up to his assigned room.

"I'm going up. See you all tomorrow," he called out wearily to most of the group, surprisingly forgoing his usual ritual of glaring in Regal's (and Zelos') direction.

Zelos spied Sheena and Colette moving to do the same, the former looking as tense and wary as Zelos felt (though probably not for the same reasons), while the latter was paling in her worry.

Lloyd called out a good night to them but didn't move to follow. He exchanged a quiet murmur with the Professor before moving to leave the inn. This wasn't anything unusual, as Lloyd had made it a routine to keep watch outside for a bit before turning in. Zelos didn't get it, and he wasn't about to ask.

With only the three of them remaining, Zelos made to make himself scarce as well. With a slight wink and a wave to the professor, Zelos made his way up to the roof of the inn. He wasn't feeling up to sleeping just yet, and definitely had no desire to be brooding in a shared room, regardless of the fact that neither Regal nor Lloyd were likely to turn in any time soon.

And speaking of the blue-haired man, there was something about him that had been bugging Zelos for a while. He felt like he had seen this guy before, but just couldn't recall where… It was driving him crazy not being able to remember him.

More importantly, Zelos was getting worried that he had somehow gotten himself in a situation more complicated than he had thought at first. And he had a feeling that it was only going to get progressively worse. Just what was a Desian doing here in Tethe'alla? Zelos had heard of Rodyle in passing from Pronyma, and from what he knew, there was no reason why he should be here.

Just who was this Presea chick? Not only was the Pope involved with her case, but also Cruxis?

There was something odd going on here and Zelos wasn't sure if he wanted to find out what.

_This isn't the time to run into more problems_, Zelos thought tiredly as he ran a heavy hand over his strained face, the worried frown that liked to mar his features at the thought of Seles returning.

The solution to his problems wasn't as simple as just handing over the Sylvarant Chosen anymore. With the Renegades after Lloyd, and Mizuho backing the group's ambitions, not to mention this suspicious conspiracy that seemed to revolve around Presea… it seemed the group was only picking up more and more problems, and not leading Zelos to any answers that could save both his sister and his own hide.

_If only I could get some kind of lead on where she was… _Zelos' fist tightened in frustration as he wondered if there was some other way that he could look for her.

Zelos sat up from where he was resting on the roof, leaning forward to rest his chin over his knees. He looked up absently at the stars and wondered if Seles could even look out into the sky, wherever she was.

_Seles…_ Zelos sighed tiredly before moving to stand up. Perhaps he should turn in for the night after all…

As he was making his way towards the exit however, Zelos' spine straightened up in alert. His hand reached for his dagger and his eyes darted about, alerts ringing uneasily in his mind. Someone was here!

"My, my. Look at you, Chosen One. Whatever has you so tense?" a low voice called out softly, mockingly, as a dark silhouette stepped out from the shadows.

Zelos swiveled around quickly at the voice, his fingers tightening over the hilt of his weapon for a mere moment before they loosened in shock. "Pronyma?" Zelos hissed out, his eyes narrowing in surprise as he took a startled step back. He hadn't been expecting to see _her_ all of the sudden.

"It's been a while, Chosen One." Pronyma purred at the redhead as she stepped further into the light. Moonlight gleaned over the metals of her outfit, and a shrewd smirk crossed her plump lips as she loomed over the Tethe'allan Chosen. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me." She chuckled lowly, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

Zelos tried hard not to flinch at those words. He had been dreading this confrontation for a while now. It had certainly been a while since he had last contacted them. He tried not to look too guilty about that.

"Well," Zelos began, trying to ease his body into looking relaxed. "I'm not in Meltokio anymore, and you guys aren't exactly easy to find." He shot the Desian a winning smile, hoping she would buy his lie.

Pronyma merely raised a doubtful brow. "I would have thought that this wouldn't prove to be a problem for you, Chosen One. After all, you do have the latest of Cruxis' technology at your disposal." she reminded him.

Zelos inwardly cursed. He had been hoping she had forgotten about that fact, since she had given that transmitter to him years ago, during their first meeting. He had almost never used it, as Pronyma often liked to make house calls.

"Oh, that thing?" Outwardly, Zelos shrugged in carefree manner. "I'm afraid I forgot it back in Meltokio. I guess I just got too used to your lovely visits." Zelos let out a phony laugh. Truthfully, he had purposely left the device behind, having sorely doubted that he would have any reason to contact them in the first place. After all, he hadn't planned on sticking with Lloyd and his gang of merry do-gooders for this long. All he had wanted was to hand over Colette to the Renegades to save Tethe'alla. Lot of good that had done him. Had Seles not been kidnapped by the Pope, Zelos would have just handed Colette over to Cruxis before demanding in exchange that he and his sister be allowed to move to the prospering world.

As it was, he was stuck with the unpleasant task of becoming a thrice damned angel.

"How clumsy of you." Pronyma remarked noncommittally as she crossed her arms over her ample chest. Her lips then twisted into a knowing expression that chilled Zelos to the bone.

"Well, I'll make sure to retrieve it for you then, Chosen One." she drawled slowly. "We'll be expecting to hear from you in the future. But that's a matter for another day I'm afraid." she informed him, her smirk widening in a way that made Zelos entirely too uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?" Zelos tried not to look too strained as he shot her a confused smile, wondering what exactly the Desian wanted from him now.

"Cruxis has heard Tethe'alla's prayer, Chosen One." Pronyma remarked coolly, looking entirely too amused as she began to saunter over to him, her hips swaying with her every step. "I'm surprised at you, really. I thought you longed to escape this cursed life?" Pronyma raised a questioning brow at his direction, although her suave smirk widened after a second. "Or could it be that after all this time you've finally grown a heart? Lord Yggdrasill is pleased at your devout dedication." she purred, stopping right in front of him as she reached to caress the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal. Her thumb rubbed at the red sphere appreciatively while the rest of her nails scratched at the bare skin of his chest.

Zelos tried not to flinch at the touch and morphed his lips into thin, flirtatious smile. It wouldn't do for Pronyma to think that he was doing this for anything other than his own interest. "Oh, so you've heard about that?" he murmured coolly as he reached up to curl his fingers around her wrist. Her skin was as cold and rigid as ever.

Pronyma laughed at his words, apparently still thinking she had the upper hand. "Did you think you could keep that a secret from _me_, my dear Chosen?" The Desian's body shook slightly with laughter. She shrugged the redhead's touch off with a flickering wrist. "You're smarter than most of the rest of your inferior race, I admit. But did you honestly think that I wouldn't find out? Just how exactly were you planning on becoming an angel?" Pronyma cocked him an incredulous and mocking eyebrow.

"…" Zelos narrowed his eyes at this statement but remained silent. He had no real answer to that. All the Pope had told him was that he had to release the seals and that it wouldn't be a problem that he hadn't received the Oracle. Zelos personally doubted that particular ritual had any real use in the first place, and hadn't questioned any further mechanics. He was starting to regret that.

Pronyma tutted disapprovingly at his silence. "No need to remain so quiet, Chosen One. You'll have plenty of time for that later." The Desian smirked tauntingly at her own words before continuing to question him.

"So? Why the big secrecy? Don't tell me you've become too shy to talk to me?" she teased him, her voice mockingly low and inviting.

Zelos felt a familiar clench of disgust begin act up in the pit of his stomach. His lips morphed into a charming smile. "I didn't think it was that much of a big deal." he murmured, shrugging carelessly as he decided that his best bet was to allow her to draw her own conclusions.

"Now _that's_ a laugh." The Desian snorted daintily. "Surely you don't expect me to believe that, do you, Chosen One? After all, you've been _dying_ to get rid of your status for as long as we've known each other. Even longer than that." she added, as if the emphasis was needed.

Zelos frowned slightly. There was little chance to deny that, but perhaps he could play that angle.

"Maybe I've just changed my mind." he told her quietly, keeping his expression blank as he avoided her eyes.

"Ha!" Pronyma cried out sharply at once, her tone clearly skeptical. "_You_? Change your mind? And for what? Surely you're not planning on sacrificing yourself for these _people._" She spat out the last word distastefully as her face twisted into a grimace. "No," she sniffed haughtily. "I know very well that your distaste of them runs as deeply as our own. That's what makes you such a good mole for us." She smiled at him thinly. "Or at least, you used to be."

There was a thick, heavy silence following her words. Zelos remained still and unwavering, refusing to give her any inch against him despite her threatening implication. Pronyma narrowed her eyes at him in distrust. Neither made a move to break the silence, and both eyed the other with careful consideration.

Zelos, for his part, was inwardly frowning as he replayed their conversation in his head. Pronyma seemed particularly insistent on getting him to talk for some reason, and it was making him nervous. Was she somehow implying that she knew what had happened to his sister? Was she in on it? He couldn't tell, and this bothered him. He wasn't sure how he should act or how much was safe to reveal to her. Was she suspecting him of something, his ties to the Renegades perhaps? Or was she merely toying with him in hopes that he would reveal something?

The uncertainty was killing him.

And if he didn't play his cards right, it wouldn't be the only thing.

"You are trying my patience today." Pronyma suddenly hissed, her voice sounding close to a snap as she finally broke the silence. "I'm tired of playing games with you, Chosen. Tell me what I want to hear."

Zelos took a second to compose himself as he lifted a mocking brow of his own. "I've told you nothing but the truth, hunny." He smiled winningly and tried not to look too amused at her disbelieving huff.

"I am giving you one more chance to fess up, my dear Chosen. Why the lies? Why the sudden interest in becoming an angel after all this time?" Pronyma pressed, looking entirely unconvinced with his answer.

Zelos let the silence linger for one more intense moment, each second calculated and timed. His mind raced quickly and his heart thudded loudly, but the only thing Pronyma was privy to note was the slight upward tilt of Zelos' chin, the darkened shine of his eyes. The redhead's lips parted then, and in a low deliberate he confessed, "Perhaps…" he told her, "I have finally come to realize _exactly_ what I have been denying all this time."

For a moment, Zelos thought his gamble had lost. Pronyma pursed her lips, as if in irritation. She looked unconvinced for the most part…although there did seem to be a slight hesitance in her countenance.

"You are lying." she murmured finally. She was leaning close to him again, as if the lessening distance would allow her to see his true intentions. Her eyes narrowed as she examined him for deceit. Her mouth was much too close, her breath brushing against the edge of his skin. "I think there's more to it than that." she tutted at him in a sickeningly intimate whisper.

Zelos didn't move an inch, not letting himself falter. "And what makes you sure there's any other reason?" he asked her, his voice warm and cold all at the same time. "Maybe all I really want is power." Zelos murmured to her softly before smirking suavely. He closed his eyes in mock satisfaction. "I've seen what little Colette can do after all. Superhuman strength, heightened senses? What's to complain about?" He ended his bravado with a bit of a careless shrug that allowed him to lean back. He made sure not to look intimidated and blinked his eyes open slowly, with a bit of a relaxed air.

"You mean aside from losing your precious _human_ needs?" she taunted.

"It seems like a small price to pay." Zelos scoffed in reply.

"Oh, please." The Desian couldn't help but to sneer. "You know better than anyone that the price you'll pay with is your life."

At this, Zelos' eyes narrowed sharply at once. "Be that as it may, darling, _I_ have no intention of sacrificing myself." he corrected her dryly, as if that had been obvious from the start.

Pronyma's eyes widened for a second at that revelation, her sneer disappearing, replaced by something akin to crude amusement. "_Oh,_ is that so?" She chuckled lowly. "Yes, I should have expected that from you I suppose. As always, looking out only for yourself, aren't you, Zelos?" the Desian couldn't help but to purr. "That's what I like about you, my dear Chosen." She smiled thinly.

Zelos responded with a charming smirk of his own, beginning to feel his heart rate slow down upon noticing the other's hostility begin to disappear. _Finally_, he thought, feeling more than a little relieved. _Now if only she could stop staring at me like that…_ Zelos inwardly frowned as he tried to decipher what the other was thinking. Clearly he had managed to convince her of his intensions somewhat, but for some reason she was still staring at him with that piercing look, as if expecting to find something amiss, as if she had been expecting something… _else._

_What does she know?_ Zelos thought then, the question resurfacing. _What does she think she knows? _He felt maddened by his own ignorance. He knew that there was something off about this whole meeting. That there was something… missing. Something he wasn't understanding.

He had no idea what it could be, and he had a feeling he wasn't going to find out any time soon.

"Very well then," the Desian continued with an all-too-pleased tone in her voice. Her eyes looked pointedly away from him. "It's about time I let you catch up on your precious sleep. I suppose you wish to enjoy that privilege while you still can." She laughed slightly, her lips twisting into a small smirk.

"We'll leave the matter of your fellow Chosen for another time." she continued, her tone turning dismissive as she swiveled on her step and turned to leave.

Zelos gave an inward sigh of relief at this. He was more than glad to see her gone.

"I would like to remind you of one thing, Chosen One." Pronyma stopped suddenly, standing still yet intimidating as he spoke to the sky rather than his face. "If I think you're lying to me, then I'll make it my business to find out why." she threatened him darkly, her voice cold and unforgiving.

And then, within a second later she was gone.

Zelos slumped where he stood.

"Well, fuck." He frowned, and let out a tired, heavy sigh.

* * *

><p><em>;) Please review~!<em>


	6. Ｔurnabouts suck

Sooo, I totally forgot to post last week! Shame on me. Well, with homework, tests, and Thanksgiving preparations, I got a bit sidetracked. Anyway, here is chapter five, sorry about the delay. Also, I haven't replied to my reviews, so I'll just say here instead: I'm glad I was able to make up your days! (: Thanks for reviewing as always!

(Also, I have to say that this chapter might have dragged on a bit, but I couldn't heeelp it. I'm very much pleased about the next chapter though, bwuahaha.)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

* * *

><p>The next morning was unsurprisingly a quiet one. No one really wanted to talk about what had happened yesterday. Zelos himself was still feeling disturbed over his conversation with Pronyma, and was actually kind of thankful that he could excuse his pensive frown due to yesterday's events.<p>

As they waited for the rest of the party to get out of bed, Zelos tried to busy his mind as he observed how the group was doing. There was nothing much to say about the irritatingly familiar newcomer, Regal, who was leaning against the wall a few feet away from them, looking as unreadable as ever. Lloyd, on the other hand, was looking as if he had had a hard time sleeping yesterday. Zelos wondered at what time he had gotten back to the room last night.

Genis was still looking miserable over the fact that they were going to leave Presea behind.

"Don't look so down, Genis." Raine was murmuring lowly to him. "We'll be back soon."

Genis mustered up a small smile at her, but it was obvious what he was really thinking. Raine sighed, and ruffled her brother's hair comfortingly.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Colette?" the party could hear Sheena asking as the girls stepped out into the lobby.

Everyone looked up to see a pale Colette trying to reassure the dark-haired ninja. "I'm fine, Sheena. Really!" the blonde said, and shot the group a bright smile upon spotting them.

The effect was rather ruined when she promptly tripped over thin air and landed harshly on her face.

"Colette!"

There was a clamor of hurried footsteps, as well as a couple of resigned sighs.

"I'm okay…!" the blonde assured them as she got back up to her feet.

"Seriously, Colette. Can you get any clumsier?" Sheena was sighing exasperatedly as she smiled down at the blonde Chosen.

Zelos couldn't help the snort that escaped him at these words, which quickly earned him an embarrassed, seething glare from the ninja. Zelos' smug smirk merely widened at that response.

"Anyway, are you really okay? Did you hurt yourself anywhere?" Lloyd was asking, though his own expression was less worried and more exasperated.

The blonde Chosen shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Just…fine." she told him, her voice becoming a bit quiet as she gazed down at the ground. She was looking much less pale by now, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment.

"That's good." The twin swordsman smiled with relief.

"Hehe, sorry." Colette smiled sheepishly then, and peered up slightly at them as she bit the edges of her lip.

And really, Lloyd had to sigh at that. "…why are you apologizing again?" His smile turned rueful as he shook his head slowly.

Before they knew it, the group's mood had somehow been lifted. Even Zelos found himself smiling slightly, before he even realized it was an involuntary reaction.

The good cheer didn't last very long however. Although they had arrived at Altessa's in record time, the meeting hadn't gone exactly as well as had been expected. Genis was still fuming over the dwarf's reception when Tabatha stepped out of the house to address them.

"I APOLOGIZE. THE MASTER DOES NOT WANT TO GET INVOLVED WITH PRESEA." she explained to them in her measured, monotone voice. Her face was devoid of any emotion as she bowed slightly to them.

Genis glared at her, still feeling angry and defensive as he snapped at her. "Why? Doesn't he care if she dies?" The young mage clenched his fists then and upon feeling his sister place a warning hand on his shoulder, had to bite back his growl of frustration

"IT IS NOT THAT." was Tabatha's response to the accusation. "IT IS BECAUSE THE MASTER REGRETS WHAT HE HAS DONE."

Everyone took a moment to sort _that_ one out then, and while it did placate them for the most part, none of them were satisfied with the answer and it showed.

Predictably, Colette was the first to speak what was on everyone's minds. "Then please, help Presea! All she needs is for her Key Crest to be fixed!" she pleaded, her expression earnest. And here, Zelos couldn't help but to remember that it had been only a few days ago that the blonde Chosen had been in the same emotionless state as Presea.

Tabatha seemed hesitant to speak for a moment. "…I DO NOT KNOW IF THAT WOULD TRULY BE IN HER BEST INTEREST." she admitted then, much to everyone's shock and surprise.

"What?" the group gasped quietly in unison, except for Regal who was staring somberly down at the floor, his hands clenching tightly, as well as Colette who seemed to have been struck speechless.

"Why!" Lloyd then continued, his brows furrowing in both confusion and suspicion as his eyes flashed heatedly in her direction. "How could anything be worse than living in that cruel condition?" he demanded, clenching his right fist tightly at his side.

The green-haired girl looked away from them at that moment, and after another brief pause, spoke up once more. "IF YOU ARE THAT COMMITED, THEN YOU SHOULD SEARCH FOR INHIBITOR ORE." she suggested, her lips almost imperceptibly turning downwards.

"Inhibitor ore?" Lloyd parroted with a startled look on his face. It was obvious he hadn't expected a helpful answer from her.

"YES. PRESEA'S KEY CREST WAS NEVER MEANT TO—"

"Tabatha! What are you doing? Get rid of them already!" Altessa's gruff, aggravated voice suddenly rang out from inside the house.

Tabatha seemed to shrink in size upon hearing the dwarf's voice. "I APOLOGIZE, I MUST RETURN." She bowed slightly at them all once more. "PLEASE COME BACK AGAIN. I WILL ATTEMPT TO PERSUADE HIM." she told them hurriedly, and although her unchanging expression was hard to judge, she genuinely seemed to mean her words.

After she was gone, the party couldn't help but to stare somberly at the spot where she had stood as they tried to process the situation completely.

"Am I to understand then, that Presea's Key Crest is actually a fake?" Raine spoke up first, looking contemplative.

"What?" Genis looked startled and worried at the suggestion. "But that's dangerous!" he turned to look at Lloyd, wide-eyed. "Doesn't that mean that she could end up like Marble?"

Lloyd nodded tersely, looking pale at the reminder. He opened his mouth to speak then, when Zelos interrupted.

"Wait, wait, wait. Care to fill the rest of us in first?" he raised a brow, curious of what they were talking about.

Lloyd looked a little annoyed at having been interrupted, but did answer. His explanation of what exactly happened to the people who wore Expheres without Key Crests was mainly aimed towards Zelos and Regal, as everyone else had seen firsthand, in one way or another, the result of that in Sylvarant.

"That's... sick." Zelos couldn't help the disgusted grimace that spread across his face.

"…" Regal made a noise of wordless agreement and looked away, his expression shadowed.

"Anyway," Lloyd continued then with a grimace of his own, turning to address the Professor. "Without the inhibitor ore, Presea's Key Crest is pretty much useless." He agreed with a weary sigh. "If only we were back home… Dad could help us out." Lloyd's shoulders slumped slightly.

Genis turned to glare at Altessa's house with resentment once more, when Regal suddenly spoke up.

"…There is a mine in the mountain range that extends between Altamira and the Ymir forest. You could acquire the inhibitor ore from there. I could lead you to it, if it'll help Presea." he told them, with a quiet type of earnest that made everyone wonder once again just what type of connection the blue-haired man had with Presea.

Raine brought up that very question not a second later, though her only answer was an avoidant frown from the man in question.

"W-well, in any case," Lloyd interrupted, wanting to get back on track. "This is our only lead, so regardless of your reasons, we're grateful for your help." Lloyd piped up, not one to look at a gift horse in the mouth.

Raine sighed slightly, but let the matter go for now.

"So where exactly is this place?" Sheena asked, following Lloyd's lead.

"You said it was near Altamira, right? That place is awesome! Let's stop by there on the way!" Zelos cut in as well, with a wide grin spreading across his face as he spoke. It felt like it had been too long since they had stepped into a proper city!

Sadly, his idea was quickly shot down.

"We don't have time to waste, you moron! There's no way we're stopping at that gaudy resort." Sheena glared at him slightly.

"Oh, come on! It'll just be for a little!" Zelos protested, feeling the need to insist. He was going to go crazy if they kept camping out for the night, especially when there were perfectly good establishments around.

"Ahem," Regal interrupted their bickering with a pointed cough, wanting to get back on track. "The mine I know of is across the sea from here, on the southern continent." he informed them, and his words drew out a quiet groan from the half-elf professor that was later echoed by Zelos as well.

"Oh, man. We'll have to use the EC's again. What a pain!" he complained with a grumpy scowl, which earned him a hard smack from their resident ninja.

"Quit whining, or we'll leave you behind!" she warned him, despite the fact that she wasn't looking pleased either about the prospect.

There was a moment of silence, and then, "… When you say the EC's, do you actually mean to say that you've been riding on the Elemental Cargos?" Regal couldn't help but to speak up, his voice just a little bit incredulous.

Sheena grimaced slightly but nodded reluctantly.

"That is… a very interesting method of transportation." was Regal's only response to that.

"Isn't it?" Lloyd agreed with a wide grin, either ignoring or unaware of the wide disapproval that most of the party showed towards the EC's.

"Well, let's get going already!" the dual swordsman insisted cheerily as he began to lead the way back into the Gaoracchia forest and towards the nearest shore. The party followed, much to their reluctance.

* * *

><p>"Found it!"<p>

Genis was grinning as he held his hand out, showing Lloyd and the rest of the party the inhibitor ore he had stumbled upon. It had been a day and a half since they had set off from Ozette. The mine had been farther away than they had expected—Regal had given a shorter estimate at first, before taking the EC's speed in consideration—and the inside itself had been pretty deep. Thankfully though, they had finally managed to get a hold of the inhibitor ore.

"It's about time…" Zelos groaned tiredly, already feeling fed up about being inside the mine.

"Good job, Genis!" Lloyd exclaimed with a grin as he moved closer to examine the item. "It's perfect. When we get back, I'll carve a charm into it. It should do the trick until we can get Altessa or Dad to make her a proper Key Crest."

The party seemed relieved to hear that, though Regal couldn't help but to ask in a quiet, almost anxious voice, "Will it take long?"

Lloyd shook his head. "Not at all. I could do it right now, in fact. But I'd prefer it if we get out of the mine first." he explained. A second later, a small grin began to form at the corner of his lips. "Zelos looks about ready to run off without us after all." he teased, angling his grin in the direction of the redhead.

Zelos blinked in surprise for a moment, not having expecting the sudden switch of attention. He responded back quickly though. "Are you sure you're not talking about yourself, Bud? I've heard stories about your lack of attention span, you know." he teased right back, grinning as well.

Lloyd shot the possible guilty parties a momentary wounded glare before turning back to Zelos. "I do not have a lack of attention span!"

"Heh. Suuure, Bud. Keep telling yourself that."

The rest of the group just sighed and ignored this exchange.

"… In any case, Lloyd is right. We should head back to Ozette. The sooner we get there, the faster we can cure Presea." Raine said, and her words were met with a series of agreeing nods.

"Let's go, then!" Genis declared, and was soon dragging Lloyd off in the direction of the entrance.

"Hey!"

Zelos snorted slightly as he watched them set off. There was the beginning of a smile inching at the corner of his lips then, genuine and unexpected.

"Looks like you're getting along well." Sheena murmured to him, suddenly at his side. Zelos shot her a small startled glance—_when did she…?—_before his eyes turned forward again. (They most definitely did not turn to look back at Lloyd.)

"He's a bit simple, isn't he? It makes it easy to get along." Zelos shrugged her words off, trying not to look as anxious as he felt at that realization. It was irritating how Zelos kept lowering his guard around the dual swordsman. More so, because sometimes it took him a while to notice that he was even doing so.

"…Maybe so." Sheena agreed, her lips pursing. She was looking down at her feet as she spoke, her voice quiet and her body tense. "But it's that simplicity that makes him easy to take advantage of. He trusts people way too easily." There was a mixture of gratefulness and reproach in her voice.

Zelos' stomach twisted slightly at her words, and because he didn't want to examine the reason behind that particular feeling, he forced on a bit of a teasing grin. "Sounds like someone has a crush." Zelos winked at the ninja, who predictably flushed brightly and smacked him a good one.

"Zelos…!" she growled warningly, though her voice hadn't risen yet, still wanting to keep their conversation private from the others.

Zelos rubbed at what he was sure was soon going to become a bruised area, before raising his hands in a placating manner.

"Ugh, you're impossible…" Sheena complained, and began to pick up her pace a little.

Zelos rolled his eyes at this and moved to follow. "You need to learn to loosen up, hunny." he told her with a bit of an exasperated sigh. And then, because he really couldn't help himself, he added, "Of course, I could help you with that if you'd like, my dear." He grinned sleazily, and dodged the next blow.

"Pig!" Sheena muttered disdainfully under her breath.

Zelos chuckled for a bit, but was soon turning serious again. He felt more at ease now that he was in control of the conversation.

"Anyway, there's something I've been wanting to get your opinion on for a while now." Zelos told her after shooting a wary glance forward to make sure the group was well out of hearing distance.

Sheena gave Zelos a distrustful glance but nodded at him to continue.

Zelos gestured discreetly towards Regal's direction. "Is it just me, or does he seem sort of familiar to you? I don't know why but it's nagging me ever since we've met up with him."

"Huh?" Sheena's brows rose a little at this line of questioning. "Regal? …No, can't say that he looks familiar to me." She shrugged slightly, unbothered.

Zelos frowned. "Okay, yeah. I forgot you Mizuho people don't go out much. But still. I can't be the only one here that's connecting the dots, right?" There was a pause in which Zelos inched away for a second as he noticed the ninja begin to get annoyed again. "Oh, don't give me that look!" he protested with a bit of a whine. "Okay, listen. Do you know of any other exphere mine around here aside from this one?" he asked her and waited for her to shake her head.

"Exactly. Now, think for a second about whom is it that owns the lands around here."

Sheena frowned for a brief moment before responding. "I guess it'd have to be the Lezareno Company. But so what?" she asked him, shrugging.

Zelos stared at her for a moment before sighing and looking away. "…Oh, brother. Is your chest the only part of you that's well-endowed?" he muttered exasperatedly and then winced at the blow his comment had garnered.

"You better shut up before I smack you!" Sheena growled, bristling and looking about ready to hit him again.

"Hey!" Zelos protested petulantly. "Don't say that after you smacked me! Sheesh…!"

"Hmph!"

* * *

><p><em>There's no doubt about it. That's got to be Duke Bryant, <em>Zelos thought silently to himself as he shot discreet glances at the blue-haired prisoner. There was a scene just at the edge of his memory that he was trying to recall. He knew he had seen the man before.

_It was at one of those stuffy parties, _Zelos finally realized after a moment, and began comparing the man from his memory with the one before him. The resemblance was uncanny. Despite the complete switch of attitude the man was displaying, in terms of appearance the Duke had not changed at all over these past fifteen or so years.

_There __**was**__ a bit of a scandal a few of years ago, wasn't there? Something about the Duke having killed one of his servants?_ Zelos nodded to himself in remembrance as they stepped inside of Ozette. The short meeting they had had with Vharley at the mines had finally helped Zelos trigger his memory and he was grateful for it.

_Tch, it really is just like the Pope to go back on his word._ Zelos thought with a wary sort of distaste as he recalled the earlier meeting with the exphere redhead was sure that even if Regal had taken off with Colette, the Pope wouldn't have done anything to do imprison Vharley. _Bastard…_

He tried not to let his apprehension show on his face. He muttered a few tired complains about wanting to rest.

The party ignored him.

"That's them! The wanted criminals!" a voice suddenly called out from somewhere nearby.

_Shit_, Zelos' eyes widened as his head snapped up in the direction of the voice. There, by the inn, one of the villagers was consulting with a group of Papal Knights.

"Damn, not them again!" Lloyd grumbled, but didn't look particularly anxious. After all, they beat the knights in numbers, eight to five.

There was a clamor of hulking footsteps from behind them. The group turned around to see four more knights brandishing weapons at them.

"Tch." Lloyd looked a bit more annoyed now.

"We're surrounded!" Genis cried out as everyone got into battle positions.

"Well, well, if it isn't Master Zelos. I trust you are well." the Vanguard spoke, addressing them all with a smug tone of voice that made Zelos glare at him in annoyance.

"Back again for another ass-kicking, are we?" Zelos sneered at them as his hand reached over for his sword.

"Hmph. It would be better if you cooperated with us, Master Zelos. The Pope has been anxious to speak with you." the Vanguard informed him. And while it seemed obvious to Zelos that the man had no idea what he was talking about it, the redhead couldn't help but to feel his stomach drop in cold dread.

"Not a chance. You can tell the old man he can go to hell!" Zelos snapped back, with feeling. And he had to hold himself back from snarling at the knights too, because his tone had already garnered a surprised reaction from the rest of the group.

The Vanguard looked put out at this response. "Well, if that's the case…" He hoisted his weapon and signaled his men to attack. "Get them! And remember to capture the blonde girl alive!"

"As if we'd let you!" Lloyd declared before moving to parry an oncoming attack.

It took a little effort, but soon enough they finished dispatching the armored pests. Thankfully, after the Vanguard had gone down, a couple of the knights had decided that running off was their best bet. Good riddance.

"We managed to win…" Genis breathed with relief, looking a bit tired from the confrontation. They had already been exhausted from their forest trek after all.

"Is everyone alright?" Raine asked, giving the group a cursory glance. Zelos was trying not to grimace as he gingerly clutched the side of his ribs, which had been bruised mid-battle. He felt too exhausted to heal himself at the moment, and was grateful when the Professor noticed the problem.

"Why is it that they always show up where we're going?" Sheena complained with a tired sigh of her own, taking a moment to flash a grateful smile at the Professor as she moved to heal the bleeding gash on her upper arm.

"Who knows? But I sure wish they'd quit it." Lloyd groaned wearily as he sheathed his swords.

To top off their annoyance, the group soon noticed that the villagers were now looking at them with frightened eyes as they hid away into their houses. At this rate, they'd be lucky to be able to stock up at the shops, much less rest at the inn.

"It's my fault again. I'm sorry, everyone…" Colette murmured guiltily then as she stared down at her feet.

Zelos rolled her eyes a bit at her words, having already become used to her constant apologizes. "Don't be silly, Colette." He grinned cheekily at his fellow Chosen. "They're after my life, too, remember? Plus, the Professor and Genis are wanted because they are half-elves. Sheena is from Mizuho, now considered a village of traitors. And Regal's got his own issues with the Pope." he reminded her and shot her a charming wink.

Colette didn't look entirely reassured, but she flashed him a small smile. "Thanks…"

Lloyd sighed ruefully and shook his head a bit, smiling. "You've got to stop thinking everything is your fault."

Colette looked down at her feet again, looking bashful. "I'm sorry, Lloyd…"

"You don't need to apologize for that." Lloyd huffed exasperatedly. "How many times do I have to tell—Colette?" Lloyd stopped midsentence as he noticed Colette was beginning to sway. The blonde looked shaky and pale all of the sudden, and then she was falling down to her knees.

"Colette!"

"Lloyd…" the blonde whimpered quietly, breathing heavily as her pale face blotched with fever.

Lloyd's hands hovered worriedly over her as the rest of the group neared in concern.

"Professor! What's happening to her?"

"I…I don't know. I…" Raine bit her lip as she took in her student's state. She murmured a couple of spells over her, wondering perhaps if she had been poisoned in battle. But for some reason she knew they would be of a little help.

"Sis…"

"It…hurts…" Colette gasped involuntarily, and her painted voice really was too much for everyone. They were beginning to lose their composure, and Sheena was about to step in and suggest that they go visit a doctor when Presea's voice cut in from behind them.

"Move…"

Genis' eyes were the first to widen in surprise. "Presea!"

They turned to look at the pink-haired girl, who was staring intently at Colette. "Please leave this to me…" the pink-haired girl told them in her usual low, quiet voice.

There was a hesitant moment in which everyone just started at each other and then at Presea, before finally moving out of the way. They watched as she approached Colette, leaning over her slightly, and then, before anyone could even think to act, Presea was swiftly turning around, wordlessly brandishing her axe against them.

"What the—!"

"Presea!"

The party flailed to dodge the incoming blows, gaping at the axe-wielder with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"Hehehe. Good work, Presea." Rodyle's nasally voice called out from above, his face crinkling with delight as he shot the group a sharp, pointed grin.

"Holy crap!" Zelos took a wary step back, his eyes widening as he watched the Desian land a pair of freaking _dragons_ into Ozette. As if they hadn't had enough stares from the villagers before. This was about to send them into a shrieking panic!

"You again!" Lloyd glared in the direction of the half-elf, his hands reaching for his swords. "What do you want?" The swordsman looked unperturbed by the fact that a couple of massive dragons had landed in the middle of the goddamned town. Zelos had to hand it to the kid—when his girl was in trouble, nothing stopped him from charging on ahead.

Rodyle shot the swordsman a smug, taunting smirk. "I hope you don't mind, but I'll be taking the Chosen One. Presea dear, if you would?" The half-elf signaled in the direction of the blonde Chosen and Presea wordlessly began to retrieve the sick girl, whom seemed to have fallen unconscious over the last couple of minutes.

"Presea! No!" Genis' eyes were wide and horrified as he stared at this scene, frozen in place.

"Stop!" Lloyd protested as well, taking a step forward.

Sheena beat him to the point though. "Now's not the time to stand around!" the ninja snapped at them all, before urgently moving to call Corrine. The small Summon Spirit quickly charged forward to knock Presea away, but they had been too late. Rodyle was already taking off with Colette.

"Hehehehe! I am Rodyle, the most cunning of the Desian Grand Cardinals! Remember this moment, for it'll be the last time you'll see your precious Chosen! Hehehehehe!" Rodyle's cackle carried down with the wind, and the party could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything else as Colette began to get farther and farther away from them.

"Dammit!" Lloyd snapped furiously, kicking at the ground in frustration. Everything had happened so suddenly! And now… and now…!

The rest of the group looked equally as frustrated and perturbed, but Zelos in particular couldn't help but to stare in white-faced horror in the direction Rodyle had taken off.

_No… not this too! _He thought, feeling his stomach drop as an anxious feeling that almost felt like panic began to rise in his chest. _Dammit!_

* * *

><p>After everything, they ended up staying overnight at the inn. Even Presea—whom they had cured soon after Rodyle had taken off, and had insisted on tagging along to make up for troubling them—had decided to join them there, having wanted to avoid staying over at her former house.<p>

"Dammit, dammit, dammit." Zelos was still chanting this in outright annoyance as he plopped down on his bed at the inn. He still couldn't believe that Colette had ended up being kidnapped.

_I thought Cruxis was going to leave her alone for now since she was supposedly sick. _Zelos still wasn't exactly sure what she was sick _with,_ or how that impeded her from being a good vessel for Martel, but nevertheless the fact that the blonde was finally under Cruxis' hands did not bode well for Zelos.

"I hate my life." Zelos grumbled in irritation as he ran a stressed hand through his wet hair. He was at least glad that this crappy village had a functioning plumbing system. It was no five-star hotel, but at least something was something.

It was kind of pathetic how this ended up being the only thing Zelos had been grateful for the entirety of today. But really, if it hadn't been for Raine, Lloyd would have had them marching off into Mizuho at the moment. Never mind the fact that the village was near. After everything that had happened today, they all needed the rest.

_Well, at least if Kratos is to be trusted, then Rodyle's reasons for kidnapping Colette have nothing to do with Cruxis' goals._ Zelos doubted his luck though. He knew Rodyle kept closely in touch with Pronyma, so it wouldn't be long before Yggdrasill got a hold of his fellow Chosen.

_Just what is that guy playing at anyway?_ Zelos thought then, wondering why exactly Kratos kept showing up wherever they were. Like Zelos, the seraphim also appeared to have an agenda of his own, though Zelos had no idea what that could be. He was going to have to find out soon, although at the moment, Zelos could really care less about it.

_Tch, why can't everything be easier? _Zelos sighed and rolled over in his bed so he could lie on his side. He shifted uncomfortably for a second, feeling something bulging in his pocket, and sat up to remove it.

"Huh? What the heck is this?" Zelos blinked down at the letter he now held in his hand, wondering when exactly this had been slipped into his pocket. He turned the crumbled envelope over in his hand and immediately tensed upon noticing the Pope's signature seal. He hurried to tear it open, and what he found inside froze his insides for the second time that day.

_Don't think just because your traitorous ass is wanted that you're to forget your responsibilities, Chosen. If you care about your sister's safety, you'll unleash the Seals._

_Also, if you try to go behind my back again, you'll regret it. Don't think you're the only one with friends in Mizuho._

Zelos stared at the piece of paper for one dumbfounded moment, letting the implications of that last sentence sink in as a new bout of frustration welled within him. He crumbled the paper in his hand, shoving it back in his pocket, before sliding off the bed and moving to edgily pace around the his room. _Fuck,_ he thought blankly, feeling too much of everything to really think straight right now.

_And here I thought this day could not possible get any worse_, Zelos thought with growing anger. His face scrunched up as he glared darkly into the rickety floorboards of his room. He felt anxious. Trapped.

_I have to do something about this._ He decided after a moment, beginning to feel a little bit reckless as well. It wasn't exactly like him to put all his cards on the table, but he was going to have to rely on _someone_ to help him. And he knew just who.

Zelos straightened up decidedly then and began to head towards the door. His hand reached for the knob, but of course, it was at this moment that the door swung open from the outside to reveal none other than Lloyd.

"Zelos…!" Lloyd blinked startled, clearly not having expected to see Zelos standing there.

Zelos blinked down at him as well, but a moment later he was grinning easily, calling a greeting of his own.

_Perfect. _Zelos thought as he stepped aside to allow the brunette to come in. _Just the man I wanted to see._

* * *

><p><em>Please review (:<em>


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